[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 185 (Monday, November 26, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S7077]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Farewell to the Senate

  Mr. NELSON. Madam President, I intend to be giving a number of 
speeches over the course of the next couple of weeks to comment on 
various matters on which I have had the privilege of working.
  I want to say, with regard to the election, that things turned out a 
little differently than Grace and I had expected, but let me say that I 
have been very, very blessed. That is because I have had the privilege 
of serving the people of Florida and our country for most of my life, 
and I don't think anyone could have been more honored by having a 
lifetime of public service. I was not victorious in this race, but I 
still wish to strongly reaffirm the cause for which we fought: A public 
office is a public trust.
  First, I want to say thanks to all who have rallied to our cause, 
both here in the Senate and in Florida. You knocked on the doors, you 
walked the precincts, you made the phone calls, and you contributed 
your time and your resources. With an optimistic heart, I wish to say 
something else: We may have been heavily outspent, but we were never 
outworked.
  To all Floridians, I say to you this, whether you voted for me or for 
my opponent or you didn't vote at all: I ask that you never give up 
this fight. A public office is a public trust, and there are a lot of 
other things that fall under that category of public trust.
  You must fight to protect the fundamental right to healthcare and 
against any attempt to roll back our progress on things like 
preexisting conditions. Most everybody has a preexisting condition. If 
it is not required that an insurance company cover you, then either 
your rate is prohibitively high or else you don't get coverage at all. 
Out of the 20 million people in the State of Florida, 8 million people 
have a preexisting condition.
  You must continue the fight to preserve the natural wonders of our 
State, from the Everglades to the pine forests and to the beaches and 
the offshore waters. Say no to drilling off our coast--not one rig off 
of our coastline--not only for the sake of our environment but for the 
sake of our tourism economy and for the sake of the largest military 
testing and training area for the U.S. military in the world right off 
of our coast.
  As a country, we need to continue to launch rockets and to explore 
the heavens. I have seen the blue brilliance of the Earth from the edge 
of the heavens, and I will fight on to save this planet, our homes, and 
our cities from the spreading plague of greenhouse gases that infect 
our atmosphere, play havoc with our weather, and risk the planet our 
children and grandchildren will inherit.
  Every single one of us needs to keep fighting to strengthen Social 
Security and Medicare for the generations that are yet to come. It is 
your Medicare. It is your Social Security. You pay into these programs. 
They belong to you and not to the politicians who are plotting to rob 
you of your retirement.
  I will continue to fight on and on for the inalienable human rights 
that are the soul and glory of the American experiment: civil rights, 
women's rights, LGBT rights, and the sacred right to vote. We must end 
all forms of voter suppression, make it easier for Americans to vote, 
and honor the ideal that we are governed by the majority and not by 
minority rule.
  There are great decisions ahead that will shape the course and 
character of America in the 21st century. Yes, I will continue to 
fight--and to fight hard--for what is right. I will also encourage 
others to seek common ground with their colleagues and the other side 
of the aisle. Inevitably, at times that effort will fall short, but we 
have to try. We have to move beyond a politics that aims not just to 
defeat but to destroy, where truth is treated as disposable, where 
falsehoods abound and the free press is assaulted as the enemy of the 
people.
  Whether an institution such as this Congress will be effective in the 
future depends on whether the people who make up this institution can 
get along, where we retreat from the tribalism that has captured 
American politics and where men and women of good will can come 
together. As the Good Book says, ``come now, and let us reason 
together.''
  There has been a gathering darkness in our politics in recent years. 
My hope today can be found in the words of John F. Kennedy, who said 
civility ``can guide us through that darkness to a safe and sane 
future.''
  Thank you all for the privilege of a lifetime of public service. God 
bless you, and God bless our country.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Madam President, I wish to address the Senator before he 
leaves.
  I represent the great State of Georgia, which is north of the great 
State of Florida. I have had the pleasure of serving with this Senator 
for a long time in a lot of capacities. He has made a huge contribution 
to his State and to his country. We worked together on a lot of other 
interests, like the Prayer Breakfast in the Senate and many other 
things like that.
  I want to commend the Senator for his speech, commend him for his 
remarks, and commend him for his lovely wife, amazing Grace, whom I 
love very much. I thank the Senator very much for his service to the 
people of the State of Florida and the United States of America. May 
God bless him.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.